00:00There's necessarily not no pressure in playing Frank Lucas, there is a heightened like I guess
00:06supreme focus for me to make sure I nail the details but everything that I've done in my
00:11career sort of led up to this point because I think Frank kind of embodies a lot of the
00:17characteristics of many characters that I've played all kind of wrapped in one. And so I'm
00:22not necessarily fixated on impressing anybody or like you know for me it's about doing
00:29doing the work and I've just done the work every job I've had and so this is kind of no different
00:34you know obviously it's Denzel Washington I mean hey I'm gonna if any in any context if you ever
00:40saying my name and his at the same time then I already won and that's cool with me you know so
00:47hopefully at some point he can catch an episode or something. You kid in town
00:51country boy looking to make a name for himself. What are you?
00:54My name's Frank Lucas. Trying to touch 10 figures.
01:01You know there's something that you can do for me. The pest.
01:05Coast to coast I could shoot product.
01:07Aren't you supposed to get that back to Bumpy?
01:08Bumpy Johnson gotta learn. Nobody plays Frank Lucas.
01:13So I wanted to congratulate you you know on this role. And Frank Lucas is a very powerful character
01:21and it's a name that we all know. But in season four Godfather Harlem it explores his origin story.
01:26What excites you the most about stepping into that untold chapter of his life?
01:30Yeah I think I'm in a unique situation where I'm playing a character that a lot of people know.
01:37And so it's like what do you bring more to a story that people are very familiar with.
01:41But the great thing is I'm not playing Frank Lucas at the age that people know him of. I'm playing him
01:47in the beginning. Well the beginning when we sort of are introduced to him is when he steps foot off
01:51the bus. You know when he's in Harlem. And that is like a physical representation of him creating this
01:59new life for himself. And for me I look at it like a blank canvas. You know and it's like I have two
02:06canvases here. There's one that's blank and one that's fully painted. And the fully painted version is
02:11where I have to get to. You know that's what's been established already. It's like for me as an
02:16artist I have to figure out what to paint to get there. It's very exciting to be able to have that
02:22opportunity. And if you could kind of expound on it just a little bit because I know you're a seasoned
02:27veteran in this industry now. I want to know what initially drew you to the role and why did you
02:31feel that this character was the next right move for you? Yeah I think just navigating the business
02:36for me in this art form is is very much about calculated risk. And sometimes the risk isn't
02:45calculated. Sometimes it's just a risk. And so for this there was little risk because of who was
02:51involved. But I had been sort of building a career off of you know navigating the nuances of
02:59relationships. I have done it you know for many years and so to step away kind of abandoned that
03:04part of what I had been building to step in and say I want to be Frank Lucas the gangster.
03:08You know was I'm sure for some people were a little bit shocked and on the fence about.
03:14But that's part of why I do this work. I don't think I'd be able to to be in this business if I
03:19didn't have this drive to just uncover every part of me. I just feel like I have so much to give.
03:26And I've just been so hungry like even from the first day till now. And that even now I feel like
03:32I still have more to give. And you know given that right opportunity I just feel like I'll be able to
03:37deliver. And I just haven't been wrong yet I feel like. And so that didn't mean just boasting. It's
03:42just me like knowing my preparation. You know when you shoot a thousand free throws you you assume when
03:48you get to the line you're gonna make it. And that's just how I see it.
03:50For sure man. And I've been a fan of the show since its inception. I want to know joining a
03:57series with an already rich and established world. What was your approach in like integrating yourself
04:02into that cast and that storyline. Yeah. For me it's I don't I don't want to do too much.
04:09As far as I'm just letting the work speak for itself. Like when you have a show that's already
04:13established. You have amazing actors. You know sometimes you join shows that are on their way out.
04:18Sometimes you're on shows where they're trying to still establish themselves.
04:22And for me as an actor like joining those kind of shows you want to figure out how you can help
04:27like bring more to the show in these areas that you feel like they may lack in a way. But the show
04:34has everything already. So it's like I just want to come and make a seamless transition. Like I want
04:39people to watch the show and fully believe like that he was living in this universe in that world
04:44in North Carolina. He just ended up in Harlem. Like that's the goal. I don't want people to be
04:49like who to know who is that like you know he looks like he's sticking out a little bit like
04:53that's not what I needed to do for this show. So it was you know it's still a journey in a process but
05:00it's a good one. So I wanted to hone in a little bit on the the cast well specifically
05:05this uh series lead Forrest Whitaker. Um what was it like sharing scenes with him and being on set
05:12with the icon like Forrest Whitaker? Yeah I think he's just been uh he's been a consummate professional
05:19just for so long. I mean decades. Um and thankfully the the industry has honored him in many ways. I mean
05:26he's won many awards um I feel like he's still underrepresented and underrated though in terms of
05:33the work that he's done um and being acknowledged by um you know award shows being acknowledged by
05:40the people in the industry because he's had such an incredible rich career for the past like three or
05:46four decades. And so we have to make sure that we celebrate these guys because that is no small feat
05:52and it makes even more sense when you are an actor you know how hard it is to maintain
05:58a level of excellence but even outside of that we we should we should honor people who are dedicated
06:04their lives to a certain thing and he's done it better than pretty much anyone else up there at least
06:12with most of them. No for sure for sure he's definitely a one of a kind man and um this next question is
06:19more of a two-fold thing because I think it's interesting when people are uh portraying
06:24real life characters and everything um one was there any pressure in stepping into uh Frank
06:31Lucas and wanting to I guess do justice to his uh to what his true self was and then two you know
06:37he was also played by an actor that you may have heard of named Denzel Washington um was any pressure I
06:43guess um trying to like live up to his representation as well too. So that's your first part um there was
06:51no pressure I don't I don't really believe in pressure in that context like I'm not operating
06:57I'm not doing brain surgery that's pressure you know it's like I do the wrong thing this person may
07:01not live for me it's not life or death although it can feel that way sometimes but when you're not
07:09navigating your life yourself when you answer to like God and you have you feel like you have a life
07:17that's planned out for you it kind of absolves you of the pressure of making the right decisions because
07:24you know what decision you make is the one you're supposed to make and so there's no there's necessarily
07:30not no pressure in playing Frank Lucas there is a heightened like I guess supreme focus for me to
07:37make sure I nailed the details um but everything that I've done in my career sort of led up to this
07:43point because I think Frank kind of uh embodies a lot of a lot you know a lot of the characteristics
07:50of many characters that I've played all kind of wrapped in one um and so I'm not I'm not necessarily
07:56fixated on uh impressing anybody or like you know for me it's about doing doing the work and I've just
08:03done the work every job I've had and so this is kind of no different you know obviously it's Denzel
08:09Washington I mean hey I'm gonna if in any in any context if you ever saying my name and his at the
08:15same time then I already won and that's cool with me you know so hopefully at some point he can catch
08:21an episode or something yes sir yes sir uh what do you hope viewers take from your portrayal of Frank
08:27Lucas in season four of Godfather Harlem yeah I hope they can see um the future I hope people can watch
08:37it and go okay we we see more of a future now like with the show obviously we've been with Bumpy for
08:44three seasons but now integrating Frank it's like we have new life here we have more untold stories to
08:50tell and just hopefully reinvigorate the fans and reinvigorate just people in general who are fans of
08:58shows that are like this you know um and to be able to see a version of of me that they haven't
09:06you know and um I think it'll be a bit shocking for people early on after the first couple episodes
09:13and then you you'll forget like you'll you'll be like halfway through and just completely not even
09:17see me when you see Frank well Rome thank you so much my brother I appreciate you uh
09:23good luck congratulations on everything man thank you Oakland my man
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